Paint
$60 Thrifted Dresser
Sometime last year I crowed about a thrifting haul. I scored multiple thrifted items in the course of one week – something that rarely happens to me. In fact, it hasn’t happened since. But not for lack of trying! One of the items I didn’t tell you about was the $60 thrifted dresser with killer legs. See what I mean? Look at those little wooden wheels… I found this dresser at my local Habitat Restore. It has become my go-to place for inexpensive furniture partly because it’s located only a few miles from my house, but mainly because of the ‘inexpensive’ part. I would have bought the dresser on-the-spot, but…
The $9.60 Table That Almost Broke Me
To clarify, I did not break a table. A table almost broke me. Emotionally speaking, of course. Our current house (I need a name for it because I’ve had a lot of ‘current’ houses) has a good-sized kitchen with a bump-out for a dining table. That bump-out is directly next to what I’m assuming was intended to be a proper dining room. Since our family functions best with an open concept floor plan, I’m making the ‘dining room’ into a living room. However, my table that I love (not as much as my children, but close) is the wrong shape for the dining area IN the kitchen. It’s rectangular and…
DIY Geometric Mirror Using Children’s Blocks
A friend and I were discussing DIY fails the other day. Always a cheery topic. The reality of my life is that some projects turn out and others…not so much. She mentioned that IF I have flops, I don’t share them on the ol’ blog. Well, duh! I don’t share pictures of the gravity-defying things my hair does when I wake up in the morning either. But maybe I should. It would certainly shock and awe. I do try to share the foibles that inevitably come with most of my projects though. Today I’m sharing a project FILLED with foibles. It’s cup runneth over with what NOT to do. But…
Upcycled Tic Tac Toe
My son’s kindergarten homework for the week of Earth Day was to: 1) play outside 2) do a project that involves reusing or recycling I was ALL on board with #1. In the interest of full disclosure, I had every intention of ignoring #2. It’s kindergarten. It’s not even required in our state. I know, I know. Mother of the year. Don’t worry. I have not sent my son down the path of underachievement…yet. We pulled the project off – even if it began accidentally. Here’s how it went down… While the kids were outside playing, I decided that would be a good time to apply a coat of stain…
Vintage-Inspired Storage Box
A long time and three states ago we bought a 10-ft. artificial Christmas tree. It was the display model. Here’s a warning. Christmas tree display models do not come with a box. You’re going to have your very own National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation moment getting it home. Image Source: A Pilgrim In Narnia To give you something else to think about, once the Christmas tree is out of the box (literally) it never stores nicely again. For the 49 weeks per year when we weren’t using the tree, we wrapped it in a tarp and shoved it under the stairs in our basement. That didn’t look serial killer-ish or anything. Eventually we finished…
Step Stool (from High School Shop Class) Makeover Part 2
We have two step stools that were made during high school shop class. Anyone else have such a treasure? After all these years, the stools are still super sturdy. Education for the win! I made over the first stool last year, but the second stool was still in dire need of a refresh. As you can see, it has been lovingly cared for for many years. I decided to makeover the stool using natural wood and stained wood. That’s how my thought processes start – very vague. While I was mulling the direction the makeover should go, I dived in and sanded the stool down with my Ridgid Sander. With the stool freshly sanded,…
Repairing Nicks and Scratches in Linoleum or Vinyl Flooring
If you were to play that game “which of these things don’t belong,” well, the flooring in our kitchen would definitely win the prize. It does not fit in with the gorgeous wood floors throughout the rest of the house. It is a big sheet of chipped, scratched, dinged and maybe-burned linoleum. I really have no idea what could have caused so much damage to one section of flooring. While this was not the overall ugliest linoleum I had ever lived with, it was certainly the most damaged. I couldn’t wait to tear it out. But then I couldn’t decide what to replace it with. So, I sat there staring at…
Child Painted Horse Artwork
When my daughter was 5, we redesigned her room in Oregon. Gone were the baby things – she was a big girl! Part of the process included me trying to figure out how to incorporate some of my daughter’s artistic masterpieces into the space. The problem was that most of her artwork from school was just one random piece after another and I wanted a pair. Plus, I was hoping to get the artwork to be in the right color scheme. I asked her if she would be on board with making some art! When she found out she’d get to use my paints and brushes, she couldn’t get into her paint clothes…
Pottery Barn Trundle Bed Knock Off
When we moved from Oregon to Georgia, we knew we’d need to get a new bed for our 7-year-old daughter. Her bed in Oregon was built-in, so we were only able to take the mattress with us when we moved. I knew we didn’t want to go the bunkbed route, but liked the idea of a trundle. So, I searched high and low on Craigslist and in stores for a trundle bed that met our quality and price requirements and came up empty. That’s when I had one of my more brilliant ideas – to make her a bed! Thankfully, my sweet husband agreed – in other words, went along…
